This invention relates generally to a health care method and system and, more particularly, to a method and system for monitoring and treating a patient who has one or more diagnosed conditions and is located at a remote location from a treatment processing system.
Monitoring patients with chronic illnesses, such as congestive heart failure, diabetes and asthma, represents one of the greatest challenges facing medicine today. Patients with chronic illnesses require ongoing, follow up treatment and care to properly manage their conditions. Unfortunately, a number of these patients do not receive ongoing treatment and care, receive ongoing treatment and care on a sporadic basis, or receive ongoing treatment and care which is not in accordance with recommended guidelines. As a result, these patients often unnecessarily suffer from symptoms of their chronic illness which could have been minimized or prevented with proper ongoing treatment and care. Additionally, some of these patients require hospitalization visits which may have been preventable and, tragically, a few of these patients may die as a result of receiving improper ongoing, treatment and care.
More specifically, and by way of example, asthma affects about fifteen million people in the United States. Long term control of asthma is possible with medications such as inhaled steroids, but in order to reduce adverse effects, use of the lowest possible dose is recommended. Determining the proper dosage requires ongoing monitoring of the patient. Monitoring of patient status is possible with the use of simple Peak Flow Meter measurements of breath rate, which the patient can do himself. Unfortunately, many patients with asthma are not properly monitored and cared for on an ongoing basis. Studies of children and adults have found that less than 50% of the patients were receiving anti-inflammatory therapy as recommended by the NIH Guidelines and only 28% of the adult patients had written action plans that told them how to manage their asthma and control an exacerbation, as set forth in the xe2x80x9cPractical Guide for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma,xe2x80x9d NIH publication 974053, 1997, p. 1. As a result, asthma is the third leading cause of preventable hospitalizations in the United States. Asthma causes 1.5 million emergency room visits, 470,000 hospitalizations and more than 5000 deaths annually, at least a portion of which are preventable.
One possible solution to this problem is internet-based monitoring of patients. Internet-based monitoring of chronically ill patients is in its infancy, but provides an attractive platform for the surveillance of such patients. A trial in 1998 found that patients using Patient Infosystem""s internet-based asthma disease management system had: 36% lower health costs; 52% fewer urgent physician visits; and 67% fewer emergency room visits compared to usual care patients as set forth at http://www.ptisys.com/web/news/1998/pr11-10-98.html. These are promising results.
Another approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,699 for, xe2x80x9cSystems, Methods, and Computer Program Products for Monitoring, Diagnosing, and Treating Medical Conditions of Remotely Located Patientsxe2x80x9d which is herein incorporated by reference. With this system, method, and product, medical conditions of a plurality of remotely located patients are monitored, diagnosed, prioritized and treated using a central data processing system configured to communicate with and receive data from a plurality of respective patient monitoring systems. Unfortunately, there are a number of limitations with this approach. For example, this approach fails to take into account subjective data on each patient""s condition, does not customize a diagnosis and a treatment plan based on the each patient""s particular medical history, does not directly notify an emergency service provider in the event of a detected emergency, and does not monitor physician compliance with prescribed treatment guidelines in treating these patients.
A method for monitoring and treating a patient with one or more diagnosed conditions in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention includes a few steps. A current assessment of each of the diagnosed conditions is determined in a treatment processing system. The current assessment is based on objective data and subjective data about each of the diagnosed conditions from the patient who is at a remote location and on one or more assessment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. Next, an existing treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions is updated using the treatment processing system. The updated treatment plan is based on the existing treatment plan, the current assessment and on one or more treatment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. The updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions is then transmitted to the patient for application by the patient at the remote location.
A system for monitoring and treating a patient with one or more diagnosed conditions in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention includes an assessment processing system and a treatment processing system. The assessment processing system determines a current assessment of each of the diagnosed conditions based on objective data and subjective data about each of the diagnosed conditions from the patient and on one or more assessment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. The treatment processing system updates an existing treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions based on the existing treatment plan, the current assessment and on one or more treatment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions to generate an updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions.
A method for monitoring and treating a patient with one or more diagnosed conditions in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention also includes a few steps. First, a current assessment of each of the diagnosed conditions is determined using a treatment processing system. The current assessment is based on data about each of the diagnosed conditions from the patient who is at a remote location and on one or more assessment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. Next, an existing treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions is updated using the treatment processing system. The updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions is generated based on the existing treatment plan, the current assessment, and on one or more treatment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. In this process, at least one of the current assessment or the updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions is also determined or updated based on one or more customized guidelines.
A system for monitoring and treating a patient with one or more diagnosed conditions in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention includes an assessment processing system and a treatment processing system. The assessment processing system determines a current assessment of each of the diagnosed conditions. The current assessment is based on data about each of the diagnosed conditions from the patient who is at a remote location and on one or more assessment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. The treatment processing system updates an existing treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions. The updated treatment plan is generated based on the current assessment and the on one or more treatment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. With this system, at least one of the current assessment or the updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions is also determined or updated based on one or more customized guidelines for the patient.
A method for monitoring for a patient with one or more diagnosed conditions in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention includes a few steps. First, a current assessment of each of the diagnosed conditions is determined using a treatment processing system. The current assessment is based on data about each of the diagnosed conditions from the patient who is at a remote location and on one or more assessment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. Next, a determination is made on whether or not the current assessment indicates an emergency. If the current assessment indicates the emergency, then at least a portion of the data is confirmed with the patient. An emergency service provider is notified of the emergency with the patient if the confirmation of the data from the patient is received.
A system for monitoring for a patient with one or more diagnosed conditions in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention includes an assessment processing system, a warning system, a confirmation system, and a notification system. The assessment system determines a current assessment of each of the diagnosed conditions based on data about each of the diagnosed conditions from the patient who is at a remote location and on one or more assessment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. The warning system determines if the current assessment indicates an emergency. The confirmation system confirms at least a portion of the data with the patient if the current assessment indicates the emergency. The notification system that notifies an emergency service provider of the emergency with the patient if the confirmation of the data from the patient is received.
A method for tracking compliance of treatment of patients in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention includes a few steps. First, a current assessment of each of the diagnosed conditions is determined using a treatment processing system based on data about each of the diagnosed conditions from the patient who is at a remote location and on one or more assessment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. Next, an existing treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions is updated using the treatment processing system based on the existing treatment plan, the current assessment, and on one or more treatment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions to generate an updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions. Next, the patient is provided with a reviewed treatment plan based on the updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions. Next, compliance data based on the reviewed treatment plans and the updated treatment plans is generated and provided.
A system for tracking compliance in monitoring and treating patients in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention includes an assessment processing system, a treatment processing system, a presentation system, and a compliance processing system. The assessment processing system determines a current assessment of each of the diagnosed conditions using a treatment processing system based on data about each of the diagnosed conditions from the patient who is at a remote location and on one or more assessment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions. The treatment processing system updates an existing treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions using the treatment processing system based on the existing treatment plan, the current assessment, and on one or more treatment guidelines for each of the diagnosed conditions to generate an updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions. The presentation system provides the patient with a reviewed treatment plan based on the updated treatment plan for each of the diagnosed conditions. The compliance processing system generates and provides compliance data based on the reviewed treatment plans and the updated treatment plans.
The present invention provides a unique method and system for monitoring and treating chronically ill patients with a number of advantages. The method and system are applicable to a myriad illnesses and utilizes the Internet to monitor and treat chronically ill patients. With the present invention not only are costs associated with direct treatment by the physician reduced, but also patient compliance to his/her treatment protocol and compliance by the physician to standard NIH treatment guidelines or guidelines from other authoritative organizations is also reinforced.
The present invention develops ongoing treatment plans that more effectively respond to the problem or problems each patient is facing with their chronic illness by evaluating both objective and subjective data from the patient about each of the conditions. With the subjective data, the present invention can also develop treatment plans that not only focus on treating the condition, but on treating the condition in a manner that minimizes the disruption on and quality of a patient""s daily life.
The present invention also develops ongoing treatment plans that more effectively respond to the problem or problems each patient is facing with their chronic illness by using customized guidelines or algorithms which are based on each patient""s particular medical history. With these customized guidelines, the present invention can also develop treatment plans that not only focus on more effectively treating the condition, but also on treating the condition in a manner that minimizes the disruption on and quality of a patient""s daily life.
Additionally, the present invention provides notification directly to an emergency service provider when an emergency condition is detected. As a result, there is a higher chance that an emergency or potential emergency will be identified and treated as soon as possible.
Further, the present invention monitors physician and patient compliance with prescribed treatment guidelines, such as those provided by NIH. This monitoring should help provide physicians, medical facilities and organizations, such as HMO""s and physician review boards, with important feedback on physician""s compliance with treatment guidelines and the patient""s compliance with treatment regimens.